Hello! We are back! The last six weeks have been epic, adventure-full. Alaska lived up to what we had heard about it (tho, the mosquitoes were waaaaay worse in Dawson Creek, British Columbia).
Here are some statistics:
National Parks Visited
Badlands NP
Yellowstone NP (1st National Park)
Wind Cave NP (1st cave designated as a National Park)
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Tongass National Forest
Fort Seward National Historical site
Sitka National Historical Park (1st Alaskan NP)
Misty Fjords National Monument
Buffalo Bill Dam
Worthington Glacier National Natural Landmark
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Total:
International Parks
Jasper National Park (Jasper, Alberta, Canada)
Banff National Park (Banff, Alberta, Canada)
Total: 2
States Traveled Thru
WV
MD
PA
OH
IN
IL
WI
MN
SD
MO
WY
ID
OR
WA
AK
ND
MI
Total: 17
Provinces Traveled Thru
British Columbia
Yukon Territory
Saskatchewan
Alberta
Total: 4
Modes of Transportation
Car
Ferry
Motorboat
Riverboat
Bus
Train
Miles driven: 12,846.7 (The Earth's circumference at the equator is 24,901.55. We drove, essentially, 51.6% of the circumference of the Earth on this trip. WOW.)
Miles by bus: 176
Miles by train: 40
Miles by ferry: (Nautical) 1,180
Hours on riverboat: 2.5 (We didn't go very far.)
Hours on motorboat: 7
Animals seen
Moose
Mule deer
Dall sheep
Buffalo
Seals
Sea lions
Squirrels
Porcupines
Orca
Humpback whale
Dall's porpoise
Prairie dog
Elk
Snowshoe hare
Bighorn sheep
Grizzly bears (aka brown bears)
Black bears
Mosquitoes (the size of Texas in Alaska; the size of Alaska in Dawson Creek. We're not kidding. We have pictures.)
Chipmunks
Total:19
Birds seen
Bald eagles
Canada geese
Great blue heron
Sandhill crane
Stellar's jay
Burrowing owl
Gray jay
Red-winged black bird
Western meadowlark
Violet green sparrow
Mountain blue bird
American robin
Chipping sparrow
Black-billed magpies
Golden eagles
Common ravens
Trumpeter swan
Thrush
Northern flicker
Red-breasted sap sucker
Mallard duck
Puffins
Really big, tank-sized storks that I can't remember the name of
Total: 23
New favorite soda of all time: Squirt (It's this grapefruit-ish soda. Yummy!)
“Whenever we embark on a long journey, there is a sense of death and rebirth. The experiences we go through have a transitional quality. The moment we step outside our house and close the door, we begin to leave our life behind. We say goodbye to family and friends and to the familiar rooms and routines that we inhabit. We might feel regret mixed with excitement as we climb into the taxi that will take us to the airport. As our vision of home recedes, we are both sadly parted and joyfully released from all that defines us. The further from home we go, the more focused we become on our next destination. We think less of home and more about where we are going. We begin to look at a new map; we start to think about where we will land, about the new people, new customs and new environment–the new sets of experiences to come.”
We have missed some things while we were gone. But we're home now.
No comments:
Post a Comment